Mission: Satyr
by Oakleaf101
Summary: 3 new demigods are assigned a mission by Hermes: find demigods who are too far away from camp to make it on their own and bring them to safety. London, England.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Annabeth, I've been thinking..." Percy started awkwardly.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows and turned to stare at him. "Really? Wow, even Rachel didn't see this one coming..."

Percy ignored her mockery and bent down to play with his shoelaces. "We're the only safe places for demigods- the gods have told us that. But what about demigods in, I don't know, Europe? It's crossed my mind before, but...I guess I had other things to worry about."

Annabeth sighed. "I know. And even demigods from Texas, California or Canada are too far away to make it here often."

They both sat back in the chairs on the porch of the Big House and watched the sun set. After a while some kids from the volleyball court called Annabeth over.

Percy watched for a while, but soon went back to his cabin for some solitude.

The next day Annabeth talked about the problem again with Percy, and together they approached Chiron. Chiron listened to them thoughtfully, nodding his head every now and then.

After they finished speaking, he stared off into the distance for a good five minutes. When Annabeth and Percy started shuffling, Chiron snapped back to reality and smiled apologetically at them.

"You're very right. Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Now you two had better go off get ready for Capture the Flag. Go on then."

As soon as they had left, Chiron sent an Iris message to Hermes. 2 weeks later, with Percy's disappearance, the problem was forgotten. By everyone, that is, but Hermes.

Hermes waved his hand through the Iris message and it disappeared. Chiron had a point. He had a couple children who were too far away to make it to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter. They lived dangerous lives on the streets usually, without a safe place to gather in any considerable number. Gosh, they didn't even know they were demigods!

Hermes frowned. Something had to be done about that. He was the god of travelers, so really it was his responsibility…

He started to form a plan.


	2. Chapter 1

Arden

I raced outside the classroom with everyone else, in the mob heading for the door. My locker had been cleaned out since yesterday and I was ready to go.

Sixth grade was over! I was now, officially, a seventh grader.

I grinned as I was pulled along with the excited crowd. No homework, no strict teachers, and no detentions for three whole months!

My bus was last in line, so it took a good half hour for me to get home. The ride was full of girls hugging each other and exchanging phone numbers, football guys boasting about how early their training started, and kids eagerly describing the camps and vacations they had planned for the summer.

I didn't really have anything to add to all the buzz. For some reason, my mom wouldn't let me sign up for any overnight, or even daytime, camp this summer. I had no clue why not.

Pretty soon it was my stop. Some kids shouted things like "Bye!" or "See you next year!" to me as I got off. None of my close friends were on my bus, though, so I didn't get any huge farewell.

I ran up the street to my house and swung open the door. "I'm home!" I yelled.

My mom leaned out the doorway from the kitchen, a bright smile on her face. "Welcome home, sweetheart! Happy summer!"

I kicked off my shoes and went into the kitchen. Chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk were waiting for me on the counter.

My older sister, Gabby, was sitting at the table, having her share of the cookies. She had finished her exams today. It was weird to think that next year she'd be a junior.

I grabbed the plate of cookies and plopped down at the table, next my sister. "Summer!" I half sung, half shouted. My sister winced and motioned for me to be quieter.

"Are you excited for camp?" My mom asked. I must have looked confused, because she quickly explained.

"This year you finally get to go the same camp your sister does! Gabby has agreed to show you around and help you get settled."

I was shocked. Every year Gabby went to a camp in New York for the whole summer. I had no idea that I would too one day.

I looked over at Gabby and she winked at me. "You'll love it," she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. "I'll explain everything on the way there."


	3. Chapter 2

"Why are we flying to camp?" I asked in my best not-whiny, just-curious voice. And I wasn't complaining. Seriously.

We lived in Texas and a drive all the way to upstate New York would take, well, forever. I was glad we were flying. All I really wanted to know by asking that was why my fifteen year old sister and I were going to a summer camp that was so far away when there were plenty of camps where we lived.

"Well," my mom replied. "The camp has given both you and your sister scholarships and paid for your transportation. I would've thought you'd want to fly anyways."

"Oh, I do. It's just weird, that's all." I drifted into silence, staring out the window. When I looked over at Gabby she was completely zoned out, probably listening to music.

Not long after that I started to see airplanes flying overhead, close enough to the ground to make me slightly uncomfortable. I shook my sister and pointed. "We're almost there!" I exclaimed.

Gabby smiled. "You're nervous, aren't you?" I blushed but slowly nodded.

"Don't worry about it. You'll make tons of new friends and have a blast. Besides, it's not an ordinary camp." She turned towards my mom and started talking about how we'd write letters every week.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Gabby had said. What did she mean it wasn't an ordinary camp? I decided to quiz her about it on the plane ride.

My mom dropped us off at the terminal. She hugged each of us, telling us how proud she was. Then she drove away. We waved until she turned a bend and her car disappeared.

I followed my sister through security. As soon as we were out of the scanner and had all our stuff, she breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at her, a question forming on my lips. She shushed me before I could say anything though. By the time we sat down at the gate, I was about ready to explode with questions.

Gabby leaned in close to me and whispered so quietly that I had to strain my ears to hear.

"Arden, this is going to come as a big shock. Okay?" I nodded, getting anxious at the sound of urgency in her voice. She took a deep breath and continued. "Remember all those Greek myths, the ones I read to you when you were little? Well, those myths aren't myths. They're real."

I leaned back. Was my sister going crazy? Gabby must've seen the look on my face, because she nodded and gestured for me to follow her to the restroom, like proof of her words would be waiting there.

I was unsure whether to go with her or not. What she said was crazy, but she was my sister. Maybe this was all a big prank?

I figured there was no harm done in following her. When I walked into the ladies' room Gabby was checking to make sure we were all alone. Then she led me to the back, where no one could see us.

"By the way," she told me, grinning. "I'm not crazy." Then, out of nowhere, she pulled a sword! It shone in the dim lighting, silver with a plain golden hilt and a leather handle.

I jumped back, startled. "How on Earth did you get that through security?" I cried. She just laughed and shrugged. "I'm not quite sure, but they never seem to notice it. Must be some sort of magic."

Her expression turned serious. "I'm not kidding about the Greek gods being real either. But there's more, Arden. You know dad?"

I bit my lip. Where was this going? Gabby continued. "He was a Greek god. That makes us demigods- one parent immortal, one human. And this camp I've been going to since I was your age is for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."

I stared at her in amazement. It was a great story, though I didn't really believe it fully. The strange thing was, I _wanted _to believe it. For dad not to be dead, for us to be what Gabby called demigods. But it didn't make sense, it was ridiculous.

A loud crash immediately stopped my thinking. Gabby pulled me closer towards the back wall. We heard sniffing, like a large dog.

All of a sudden the animal barked. I gasped, then willed myself to shut up. The dog silenced at once. Then it started to growl quietly, which was even scarier. This was a dog, for sure. Actually, it must be more of a wolf, I thought.

The growling got closer. Gabby positioned her sword in front of us. Then she stepped out of the alcove, me right behind her, and we looked at the beast.

Its eyes were glowing red and its fangs were hanging out of its mouth, dripping saliva. The fur covering its body was blacker than midnight and caked with mud. Altogether he was terrifying, like he might kill Chuck Norris and eat him for breakfast.

And we were his next targets.

He stroked the ground with his right paw, a sign, I had learned from watching too many action movies, that he was about to attack. He howled and came charging towards us.

I thought for sure we were dead, but my sister ran up to meet him, slicing with her sword. I watched in awe as she sliced him with a killing shot. I expected the mutt to fall dead to the ground. But instead he burst into a yellowish powder, which fell in a pile on the ground.

My sister stood there panting. "Oh, yeah, downside of the Greek heroes existing. The monsters do too."

My mouth was still hanging open. "Yeah," I said faintly. "I believe you now."

A voice over the intercom announced that our plane was boarding so we rushed out of the bathroom. The whole way to New England I asked my sister about the monsters, the gods, Camp Half-Blood, and how everything worked.

Turns out that monsters can regenerate, so heroes always have something to fight. The gods moved their home, Olympus, from Greece to Rome, to America. Olympus was currently seated at the top of the Empire State building. The only answer I couldn't get out of her was who our dad was. When I asked, all she would say was that I would find out soon enough.


	4. Chapter 3

We were met at the airport by a gang of teenagers, each sitting on the back of a colorful horse. I blinked and looked again. To my surprise, they weren't horses. Wings folded down along their backs, which, to my definition, made them Pegasus.

One girl, who seemed to be the leader, jumped off her horse as soon as she saw us come through the sliding doors and ran to embrace Gabby. I was left standing in front of 3 kids, probably in their late teens.

There was a guy with scars, bruises, and scratches all over his body and face. His hair was dark brown and his face was sharp, his eyes staring down at me like a hawk. He must've got into a lot fights, and by the looks of him started most of them.

The other two seemed friendly enough, one girl and one boy. The girl had light brown hair, a couple inches past shoulder-length. In a way it looked like mine, just a lot less tangled and a bit longer. Freckles splashed across her face and she wore a t-shirt and athletic shorts. She smiled at me, which lit up her brown eyes.

The boy had auburn hair and bright green eyes. He grinned at me and waggled his eyebrows, as if to say 'Get ready, 'cause I'm about to show you something amazing.'

Then he brought his Pegasus back a ways and revealed a small, white horse, speckled with brown. Its mane was light brown and its wings creamy white. "All yours," the boy said.

I gazed up at him and raised my eyebrows, wondering if it was a tradition to prank new campers. "Aw, come on. I know about this Greek stuff being real and all that, but there's no way you're just giving away Pegasus to, you know, newbies."

He and the girl exchanged an uncomfortable look. "Well, this is a special circumstance," the girl explained. "You may have to leave soon after you've been claimed, so Chiron thought it necessary to start teaching you how to ride early on."

She dismounted and walked over to me. "His name is Ray." She reached over and petted him, then gestured for me to do the same. The name seemed to fit him well. His eyes were bright and shone with intelligence.

I admired him for a while, until the girl broke my thoughts. "My name is Amber, by the way. And this is Gilan." The boy, his name was Gilan I guess, waved at me.

I nodded. "I'm Arden."

Amber suddenly jumped back onto her horse and he flew straight up into the air, then spiraled back down so that he was hovering just a few feet off the ground. I gasped. It had all happened so quickly.

It wasn't long before I realized that Amber and Gilan expected me to mount Ray. I gulped and looked over at Gabby. She and the other girl were sitting on a bench, chatting. I guess they had a lot of catching up to do.

I was nervous. I had never been good with horses. In fact, I was awful with them. My family had been on a couple trail rides, and I hated every second of them. Either the horses wouldn't listen to me and would refuse to move or they would buck and canter off into the woods. It wasn't good.

But it was getting embarrassing just standing there and not knowing what to do, so I decided to try my luck. It took some struggle to actually get on her back- even though she was way tinier than the others.

But once I was on, it was so easy. Ray responding to all my calls smoothly. It was almost like she understood me. 'Maybe she does,' I thought, remembering the intelligence I had seen in her eyes.

Gilan whistled and Ray went soaring into the air, hundreds of feet above the ground. I yelped and grabbed on to her neck for dear life. My eyes were squeezed shut until I realized that we weren't zooming up anymore, nor were we falling down.

I slowly opened my eyes and then let go with both hands. We were whizzing above the city, looking down on all the traffic and buildings. We were higher than the tops of any skyscraper, almost close enough to touch the clouds. We were flying!

Amber and Gilan came up on both sides of me, beaming. Gabby and her friend circled below us. "How do you like it?" called out Gilan, his voice barely heard over the roaring wind.

I let out a deep sigh of pleasure. "It's…" I wasn't quite sure what to say. It was thrilling and exhilarating up here. It was also scary. But most of all, it was beautiful. I thought hard about my answer before replying.

"It's the most amazing thing that I have ever done!" I called back and watched as his grin grew wider.

I turned back into the wind and enjoyed the feeling of it playing with my hair.


End file.
